The Church of England has been warned it cannot carry out a risk assessment of
suspected paedophile priests in case it breaches their human rights, it
emerged yesterday.

The warning came as members of the General Synod voted to issue an "unreserved" expression of regret for the Anglican authorities' failure to prevent sexual abuse in the past or even to listen to the victims.

Members of the Synod also backed a string of proposals designed to tighten up child protection arrangements.

In a joint statement, supported unanimously, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York said: "The sexual and physical abuse that has been inflicted by these people on children, young people and adults is and will remain a deep source of grief and shame for years to come."

But the Church's legal officials admitted that privacy rules, enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights, could make it difficult to force "credibly suspected" paedophile priests to go for a professional risk assessment.

An earlier report, conducted in the wake of the child abuse scandals in the diocese of Chichester, recommended sending anyone reasonably suspected of abuse to see professionals. But a briefing paper prepared by the legal office warns that this would involve "intrusive inquiries" and could run into problems with Article Eight of the European Convention – the right to private and family life.

Bishops would therefore be forced to compile a case against suspected priests just to send them for a risk assessment.

A proposal to ban priests from wearing dog collars if they have been suspended because of abuse suspicions has also run into trouble after officials claimed that because the Church of England does not own the copyright to dog collars, it does not have the right to ban their use.

"There is no distinctive uniform for Church of England clergy – a cleric in a black shirt and priest's collar could be Anglican, Roman Catholic, or Methodist, or belong to any number of small Catholic or Protestant sects that have no connection with the Church of England," they said.

Earlier the Synod heard a frank admission that the Church has become so obsessed with sex that it was failing to tackle what is by far its biggest problem: the severe decline in congregations over several decades.

In a paper presented to members, the Bishop of Sheffield, the Rt Rev Steven Croft, warned that discussion of how to attract people to church was often sidelined as issues such as gay marriage and the role of women had come to "dominate" bishops' private meetings.

Meanwhile, the Church's man in Parliament, the Tory MP Sir Tony Baldry, warned that the Church of England faced virtual oblivion within 20 years unless it united.

He told the Synod that "tribes" had been created by the "confused" debate about the role of women in the Church.

He said: "To flourish in our mission to evangelise England we have to find a way of uniting."